A new date has been added to the autumn’s already busy calendar. The student and professional inter-union is calling for a strike and a protest on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, in Paris and across the country. The announcement came this Thursday, October 8, at Place de la Bastille (11th and 12th districts), where several thousand high school and university students gathered to demand more resources for the National Education.
The movement didn't spring from nothing. It began in mid-September at Saint-Exupéry High School in Créteil, in the Val-de-Marne department (94), where teachers walked out to protest staffing shortages. The blockades then spread across Île-de-France, followed by Marseille, Lille, Lyon and Rennes, before universities joined the wave.
The appeal brings together high school and university student groups, including the Union étudiante and the Unef, but also staff unions. The FSU, the leading federation in education, is calling on all personnel in national education and higher education to strike this Tuesday, as announced by its general secretary, Caroline Chevé.
The rallying cry is clear and numbers-driven. As franceinfo reports, Sabrine Kharbach, spokesperson for the Student Union, warns that the mobilization will continue "until we have 10 billion on the table."
The demands can be summed up in a few core points that appear on every banner: enough substitute teachers, renovated buildings, timetables with fewer gaps, and, more broadly, a budget that matches the needs. According to a survey by the Snes-FSU, at least one teacher was missing in 53% of public middle and high schools at the start of the school year.
On the high school front, the tone is hardening over guidance. Ryad Rani, president of the National Union of High School Students (USL), told AFP that his group will urge the ministry to scrap Parcoursup. He said on Thursday that “2,000 high schools are shut down,” a figure that stands in stark contrast to the ministry’s count of 157 closures by midday.
That, at least, is the view of Manon Moret, secretary-general of UNEF, who says she hasn’t seen young people so mobilized in the streets in about twenty years. To her, the government is failing to meet the expectations of young people.
The pace speaks for itself. After September 29, the public-sector strike that served as a springboard, then the big demonstration on October 6 between République and Nation (dont nous vous avions détaillé le parcours) and the rassemblement de ce jeudi 8 octobre, Tuesday, October 13 becomes the next milestone of a movement that advances in waves, like a tide that comes back a little higher on the shore each week.
The government is rolling out a slate of conciliatory gestures, but the streets are far from calmed for now. Beginning October 4, Sébastien Lecornu charged his ministers with five priority projects, an initial assessment due by mid-October. The prime minister spoke again on television on Wednesday, October 7.
On his end, the Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray met with the three main high school organizations on Thursday and pledged an emergency plan for substitutions. According to France 24, he was due to outline early concrete measures as soon as Thursday evening on TF1's news broadcast. A consultation platform dubbed Agora remains open to high school students until October 23.
As we write, the route for the Paris demonstration on October 13 remains undecided. It is usually announced the day before or the day prior by order from the Police Prefecture.
During prior events, several metro stations along the procession routes were shut down by RATP. Before you head out, it’s wise to check our daily traffic update and the week’s disruption recap.
Families should also plan ahead. Following the FSU’s call, schools at all levels could operate on a reduced schedule or even close. In primary schools, municipalities must implement a minimum reception service when at least 25% of the teachers at a given school are on strike, a framework laid out by the Ministry of National Education. The simplest course is to check directly with your child’s school at the start of the week.
We will update this article as soon as the route and any station closures are confirmed. To keep track of all planned demonstrations in the capital, also check out our Paris demonstrations guide.
This page may contain AI-assisted elements, more information here.
